Enable! Lufthansa canceled our tickets but held our revenue
Expensive Journey TROUBLESHOOTER: Just before the pandemic, my husband, my two close friends and I were intended to join a Gate 1 tour in Albania. Gate 1 booked us a Lufthansa flight, which consisted of 3 legs from San Francisco to Tirana via Amsterdam and Frankfurt. When we checked in at the gate in Amsterdam for the flight to Frankfurt, a Lufthansa agent informed us that our reservation experienced been canceled. The agent at the boarding gate didn’t give us a rationale for the cancellation. We had to invest in a new ticket to get to Tirana.
) Christopher Elliott, the Travel TroubleshooterWhen we returned, we despatched an electronic mail to Lufthansa, requesting a refund for the ticket we had to invest in. Lufthansa denied our ask for. It also rejected our attraction.
Can you support us get a refund of the $1,605 we had to pay back for the new tickets?
— Po Yee Lover, Oakland
Remedy: If Lufthansa canceled the flight, it ought to refund your ticket. But did Lufthansa terminate your flight?
Your daughter contacted Lufthansa on your behalf. The airline said its data display that whilst the flight operated on routine, United Airlines canceled your reservation. (United is a code-share partner with Lufthansa Star Alliance.)
You requested United Airlines for assistance, but it deferred to Lufthansa. It also mentioned that you and your spouse had been “no shows” for your flight to Tirana. That’s not attainable because you have been traveling as a team, and your two mates boarded the aircraft as scheduled. If you’re a “no-show” for a flight, then the airline automatically cancels the relaxation of your flights.
This is not the way it’s intended to get the job done. Gate 1 really should have taken ownership of this challenge, locating a alternative flight and fighting for any refund. In its place, you were being having bounced in between two airways and a tour operator — and receiving nowhere.
I checklist the names, numbers and e mail addresses of all the govt contacts (https://www.elliott.org/organization-contacts) for Gate 1, United Airways and Lufthansa. I in all probability would have began with Gate 1, considering that it booked the flights. Since your flights were being on Lufthansa, my second halt would have been the German carrier.
It appears to be like your daughter tried out to continue to keep everything in writing, which is beneficial. But there is also a time to get on the cellphone, and that time was when you had been in Amsterdam and did not have a ticket to keep on to Frankfurt. I would have exhausted every single possibility, like contacting Gate 1, Lufthansa and United ahead of shopping for a new ticket. Finding revenue from an airline is nearly unachievable.
But not totally unachievable. I contacted all 3 on your behalf. Soon after many weeks, United sent you a refund for the new flight.
